Grounding of ALH fleet since January is a setback for armed services & Coast Guard who together operate around 330 of these work horses. HAL came out against adverse reports.
In my experience, HAL has always resorted to band-aid fixes and additional cautions rather than walking back a design—that too after much blood was spilt.
There are people inside and outside of Iran who do not feel sorry for President Raisi’s death. Some of them are trying to take advantage of this tragedy to pursue their own political goals.
Widely used globally by govts & private operators, the two-blade, medium helicopter first flew in 1968. Tehran procured various aircraft, including copters, before 1979 revolution.
Helicopter carrying President Ebrahim Raisi & Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian crashed in northwestern Iran. Modi says, 'India stands with Iran in this time of sorrow'.
The reason for crash near Likkhu, northeast of Kathmandu, remains unknown, as stated by civil aviation regulator. Probe committee will be established by govt for investigation.
Review by committee set up by Centre for Military Airworthiness & Certification found no design flaw, but metallurgical issues & maintenance problems at the service level, it is learnt.
Little is known about why the helicopters came down, Army Brigadier General John Lubas said Thursday. The crash is one of the military's deadliest training accidents in recent years.
In tactical terms, the shirtless protest was worse than a self-goal. Suddenly, the fiascos of the AI Summit were forgotten, and the Youth Congress’s disruption became the issue.
IAF is fine with accepting the aircraft with 'must-haves', even if some other steps remain pending, which may take at least another year, it is learnt.
COMMENTS